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Are broadband and mobile killing TV?

Wi-Fi and tablets are replacing talking and texting when it comes to the way we watch and engage with TV. broadbandchoices.co.uk looks at whether they could replace the television set too...

Just a few years ago, there was only one way of watching TV.
Whether it was a television set in your living room or bedroom,
you'd find out what was on in the TV guide, settle down on your
sofa or bed just before it began and share the experience with
family or friends watching with you.

Fast forward to the present day, and it's a different story. For
a start, one in three people in the UK now use a smartphone and/or
laptop while watching TV on a traditional television set, according
to independent
research from broadbandchoices.co.uk. In fact,
around a third of us would now happily ditch our television set for
another viewing device, such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

So, why are so many of us tapping away on a phone or a computer
while sitting in front of the box? Why do so many of us now prefer
to watch TV on an internet-connected mobile device? And could
smartphones and tablets replace the traditional television set
altogether? broadbandchoices asks the experts...

Second
screening

Our research found that, of the 2,000 people surveyed, around
one-third said they use a laptop while watching TV on a standard
television set, just under a third use a smartphone, and a smaller
proportion use a tablet computer like an Apple iPad or Samsung
Galaxy Tab. The practice of using a mobile device while watching TV
is known as 'second screening'.

"More of us are watching TV accompanied by a connected device;
some individuals are accompanied by several devices, says Paul Lee, director of technology, media and
telecommunications at financial services firm Deloitte. "We have
been seeing this trend grow steadily over the past seven
years."

According to Lee, the driving force behind second screening is
fundamentally due to the increase in home Wi-Fi connections coupled with the
rise in popularity of portable internet-connected devices such as
laptops, smartphones and, most recently, tablets, creating a
culture of "connected usage".

Social
networking and TV

While that explains how many of us have a laptop, smartphone or
tablet alongside us on the sofa, it doesn't explain why we're using
them while we're watching TV. Is it simply the result of an
inability to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes
at a time due to the increasingly non-stop, 24-hour accelerated
culture the internet is often accused of bringing about?

Not according to David Pierce, senior
reviews editor at technology news network The Verge: "Some people like to say
the second screen phenomenon is a result of our shortening
attention spans, and our inability to fully pay attention to
anything, but I think it's simply that we've found ways to augment
the experience."

Pierce says we now use social networking
websites to communicate when what we're watching is
engaging us or attend to emails when we're not so interested.
broadbandchoices' research backs this up, with over half of those
who use a second device while watching TV using them for social
networking and almost two-thirds using them to check or send
emails.

If anything, the reason many of us are now using social networks
on our smartphones and tablets while we are watching TV is because
they increase our engagement with big TV moments, such as The X
Factor final or the London 2012 Olympics, rather than distract us
from them, according to Pierce.

A report published by Twitter
last week said that 60% of the 10 million active Twitter users in
the UK use the social network on a laptop, mobile or tablet while
watching TV, and, at peak times, 40% of all tweets from UK users
are about TV programmes currently being shown.

"We're more engaged in the second screen, augmented experience
when important things are happening," Pierce explains. "Social
media gives us the experience of having a million friends in the
room with you, watching whatever you're watching - that's an
incredibly exhilarating thing to be part of."

TV on tablets
and smartphones

But, with a third of those polled
by broadbandchoices revealing they would
rather watch programmes on a tablet, smartphone or laptop than on a
traditional television set, could we see internet-connected mobile
devices, in conjunction with the humble home broadband package,
replace the traditional television set as the main way we watch
TV?

It's unlikely, according to Kate Russell, reporter for BBC technology
TV show Click and author of internet
business book Working the Cloud: "The TV is too much the focal point for a
family room for it to be in any immediate danger of extinction, and
with connected TVs becoming more common their position will only
get stronger, as we perhaps start putting aside our tablets and
smartphones to do more online interaction through the big screen of
the TV set instead."

However, Russell believes that with broadcasters now developing
apps for smartphones and tablets which synchronise themselves with
TV shows through audio cues - meaning they can even be
used when watching a programme via a catch-up or
on-demand service through an internet-connected television
set, or smart TV - it looks like second screening at least is here
to stay for the time being.

Are you a second screener? Would you ditch your
television set to watch TV on your smartphone or tablet? Let us
know in the comments section below.

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.